Pounds Per Square Inch
by Yanagi-wa
Summary: Ranma and Akane are trying to get along better, but there is a problem and Akane's therapist isn't much help. Neither is Pop. Leave it to Ranma to find an original solution. One shot.


Pounds per Square Inch

"Akane, I'm so sorry. I'll get you some ice. Just stay there."

Ranma ground his teeth in despair. He'd done it again

Every time he got passionate with Akane it happened. He got too rough and hurt her.

"It's ok, Ranma, I know you didn't mean too. It's just desserts, I guess. I get my head together and my temper under control. Then you're having problems. Pay back's a bitch."

Akane rubbed her aching shoulder. Ranma had been kissing her (very nicely too) and gripped it too tightly bruising it, again.

Ranma crushed some ice for the ice bag he was making. He didn't bother finding the ice mallet he just crushed it in his hands. Dumping the crushed ice into the bag, Ranma went back to the dojo.

Akane was rubbing liniment on her shoulder, slipping her hand under her Gi so that she'd remain decent incase someone wandered into the dojo unannounced. Taking the ice bag from Ranma, she slipped it under her Gi also. She didn't want to embarrass Ranma, he was still twitchy about seeing her.

That made her sad, she'd spent so much time trying to get him to do just that and now that he was body shy around her, she didn't want that after all. Be careful what you wish for; you might get it Now that she was in therapy, she understood why she did the things she did and she was getting over her paranoia. However, she'd done some damage of her own, Ranma could barely be convinced to touch her. When he did, he either treated her like spun glass or got too passionate and grabbed her too hard.

Geeze, I just can't win. I guess I deserve it for all the times I malleted Ranma or socked hin into LEO but it hurts him even more than it hurts me. I don't understand what's going on. He's usualy in . . .

Akane stopped thinking, she heard that special awful sound that she hated so. Ranma was letting his Pop beat him up again. Every time Ranma hurt her he picked a fight with his father and lost. She wondered if he even realized what he was doing.

Ranma was a true believer in payback. If you messed up you should be punished and he was harder on himself than on anyone else.

Akane ran out into the yard. "Mr. Saotome, stop it right now. Don't hit him again. He's doing it on purpose."

Genma stopped kicking Ranma and turned to glare at Akane. She just went to Ranma and started to pull him up.

"What are you talking about, Akane He's getting sloppy, I'm going to have to take him on a training trip soon or he's going to forget everything I've taught him." Genma gave Ranma a warning stare. "Try again, boy."

"No, Mr. Saotome, I want to talk to you privately. It's important. Please."

Akane knew she had to tell someone what was going on but she also knew that Genma Saotome wasn't really the one to talk to. She was only doing it because she was afraid that Ranma would allow Genma to do him some kind of harm.

Genma rubbed the back of his head. This was an unfortunate development. "Can I see your shoulder? Just that I need to see how bad it is. Have you seen Dr. Tofu about it?"

After examining Akane's shoulder for a moment Genma snarled, "I'm gonna beat that boy to within an inch of his life. You shoulder is every color of the rainbow. If I've told him once I've told him a thousand times, don't hit girls or those weaker than you are.", without letting Akane explain Genma bolted out of the room in search of Ranma

Akane followed, getting between Genma and a cringing Ranma, before he could do more than shout a few threats.

"No! You aren't going to punish Ranma. He didn't do it on purpose I told you. We were . . . well . . . necking and he just . . . uh . . . squeezed me too tightly and . . . I . . . oh, for pities sake. I liked it until he did that. I came to you for help . . . not for you to beat Ranma up. I could do that myself."

Ranma stood up and squared his shoulders. He'd been weak for a second, his Pop had looked like he was going to kill him. He deserved to be punished for hurting Akane. He was strong and he knew it so he should be in control, it was just that every time he got so far with Akane he couldn't seem to stop. He wanted to hold her close and express his love. But he didn't seem to be able to control how hard he gripped her, so he held her too tightly and hurt her.

"Ok Pop I'm ready. Let me have it good. I'll close my eyes so I won't duck."

Ranma was appalled, not being able to control something was anathema to him and he wasn't about to try to avoid the consequences of his lack. He'd trained until he dropped trying to find the key. There had to be some way for him to express passion without going over board.

"I'm not going to punish you, boy. I can see you've been letting me punish you by losing fights. What the hell is wrong with you. You're out of control here. You're going to train . . . "Genma stopped, wondering how to train Ranma, there weren't many techniques that required gentleness, control of course, but not gentleness. Genma acted in typical fashion, he backed out quickly. "I don't know anything about this. You're on your own, boy. Be a man, solve your own problems."

Dr. Tofu's office

"I see . . . well, take off your top and slip into this gown. I'll step back in in a minute. I'd like to speak to Ranma a second."

Dr. Tofu called Ranma into his small private office. After listening to Ranma's explanation he humped and rubbed his lip. This wasn't going to be easy to fix. Ranma was proud and Akane wasn't much better. The two of them had finally made a pact or truce of some kind. Ranma was allowed to touch and hug Akane in the dojo and Akane was learning that while other boys might be too grabby or try too much too soon Ranma was her fiancé and was allowed more latitude but this grabbing too hard was going to ruin several months of hard work on the parts of Akane and her therapist.

"I don't know what to tell you, Ranma. You have been very patient with Akane and her therapist says she's coming along very well. You'll just have to keep your hands off her until you can figure out what to do about your lack of control. It's so unusual for you. If you could tell me what exactly the problem is maybe I could help more."

Dr. Tofu's sympathetic look made Ranma feel like a jerk. "Everyone keeps telling me I'm holding her to hard. But how hard is too hard. If I had some way to gauge it. You know?"

Ranma wasn't having any luck getting help. He needed information he wasn't getting. If he held her to gently, she complained that she couldn't feel it then he'd hold her to hard and bruise her.

Tofu shook his head. "No, I'm not sure I do. This isn't getting us anywhere. I'd better go see Akane now."

After treating Akane's bruises Dr. Tofu reiterated his caution to Ranma.

"She's very badly bruised. Don't touch her if you can avoid it. Even if she asks. I want her to have a chance to heal up. And you know quite well pushing on a bruise makes it take twice as long to go away. I'll give you some more of that liniment but have Kasumi put it on for her. You're just to rough."

Ranma hung his head in shame. He didn't mean to hurt Akane and now they had to go back to the way it used to be. He'd have to avoid touching Akane at all costs but now Akane would be hurt because he wouldn't touch her instead of because he accidentally did.

Akane sighed, she had begun to enjoy their little visits to the dojo. Her therapist had explained about aversion therapy and desensitization. Actually recommencing that she and Ranma indulge in 'companionable touching' to help her get over her aversion to being touched by a boy. It had actually been kind of fun until Ranma had started kissing her. That always led to either her freaking out and having to run away in order not to send Ranma into orbit. Or Ranma getting over passionate and either gripping her arm or shoulder too hard or hugging her until her ribs felt crushed. It only lasted a second, just until she protested.

Now here she sat wishing for something she had avoided like poison and not being able to even ask.

"Ranma, please. Just hold my hand. That will be all right. You know that's how we started out."

Akane held her hand out to Ranma who looked at it like it was hot. Shaking his head and looking like he was being dragged out of heaven Ranma left the room giving Akane one sad, backward glance.

Ranma sat up in bed, he'd heard a noise something wasn't right in the Tendo home. He listened carefully. Akane was crying.

"Damnit, I even make her cry when I'm not near her."

Ranma tossed his blanket aside and headed for Akane's room. She was having a nightmare and it was his fault.

"Ranma, don't leave me. Please . . . oh! It hurts! Not so hard." Akane sat up in bed and batted at invisible hands.

Ranma got a good look at her arms and shoulders. She was usualy covered up by her uniform or Gi but she was wearing a tank top and boxer shorts and every bruise on her body was clearly visible.

"Akane, honey! Wake up! I won't touch you. Wake up!" Ranma was afraid to even get near Akane, but he had to wake her up somehow. He wound up throwing balled up sox at her until she woke up. Her scream of embarrassment brought the whole Tendo circus into her bed room

Genma had managed to get Panda-ized, Nabiki took pictures, sure to be blackmail material for years to come, Kasumi reached for lotion and Soun started crying.

Damnit, my life sucks.

The general consensus, after exclaiming over her bruises and calling Ranma every name in the book; twice, was that Genma should flatten Ranma like a pancake and he should see her therapist.

The therapist wasn't any more help than anyone else. She just told Ranma he needed to exercise more self control, that all he could do was be patient until Akane stopped being so sensitive. Her look drove Ranma up the wall. She looked at him like he was some hysterical idiot.

"Ask her to show you some of the bruises, damnit. I keep grabbing her to hard. I get upset and she gets hurt. I can't touch her, I can't hold her, it's getting so I can't even look at her." Ranma turned scarlet, he'd be damned if he admitted exactly what he meant by upset to this woman. She wasn't listening, she had already formed her opinion and didn't show any signs of changing it. "Just listen to me and don't be trying to refute something I haven't said yet. I . . . I'm sixteen. She's my fiancee and she turns me on like a light switch. All I have to do is neck with her a little and all I want to do is suck her tonsils out. Yeah, she thinks I'm innocent, Pop thinks he's kept me ignorant. I know about sex and all that. I had Family living in school and that's my problem. I"m not innocent. But I am moral. I don't believe in sex before marriage but it's hard. And Akane . . . after everything she's been through, I don't want to scare her but it's all I can do not to go to far. So I get too rough because I am losing control. How hard is too hard? How many psi is going to cause a bruise?"

The therapist just shook her head. They'd been so focused on Akane that they'd completely forgotten that Ranma was only human too and sixteen. He was trying to take care of Akane and he needed help as well. She was going to have to rescue Ranma before his guilt drove him away from Akane, that wouldn't be good for either of them.

"I don't know what to tell you, young man, except to say that I respect you more than you may understand. I felt that having you go through the exercises would help Akane and they are, but quite frankly I didn't take into account how hard it was going to be on you. You act so mature that you seem . . . Umm . . . I'm not quite sure how to put this." The therapist watched Ranma for a moment with a bemused expression, trying to think of a way to express herself without insulting Ranma.

"I think the word you're looking for is arrogant. Don't worry. Everyone I know either tells me I'm arrogant or a jerk or both on a regular basis. So I'm arrogant and crude and a jerk and a bunch of other things. But I'll lay down my life for them and they know it, who else do you know who can say that and mean it." Ranma got up to leave. The woman was looking at him like he'd lost his mind and she was getting ready to call the men from the funny farm. "Don't hurt yourself. I'm outta here. I'll figure this out for myself just like I always do. I just need information I'm not getting. I'll find it somewhere."

Ranma called Akane for her session. He told her he'd be on the roof when she got done. After her session they went roof hopping, it was a good way to travel in Nerima. It kept them away from traffic and crowds which neither one of them was good at handling.

Akane saw the new arcade before Ranma and decided to drop in to see what games they had. Ranma followed although he didn't like arcade games much. With his superior reflexes and martial arts skills most games were boring to him. He had seen a dancing game that looked interesting if he could justify playing it with his pride.

The game that finally attracted his attention was unusual, called over by the operator he looked at the apparatus with some misgiving. It was a series of touch pads and odd looking padded protrusions.

"Here you go mister. All you have to do is push here. It tells you how hard you're pushing. You grip this thing here and it will tell you how good your grip is. We give prizes every week for the strongest person in each category. Or you can do it just for the fun of it. What's your poison?"

Frank was startled by the young mans suddenly intense expression. The man looked like he was thinking deeply, just staring at Frank and his game with speculative eyes. A cold chill went down his back, he was carney to the core and he knew this expression. The man had an agenda and that usualy wasn't good for carney folk.

"Look, Mister, I don't want any trouble. My machine is legit so don't be getting any ideas ok?"

Ranma was examining the machine more thoroughly and he knew it would work if he could just get the information he needed. He turned to the operator with a hopeful expression.

"Look, Frank. I don't want any trouble either but I'm in it anyway. I think you may be able to help me if you will. Please, Mister, I'm really desperate." Ranma explained his problem ending up with. "I know you probably think I'm an idiot or a liar. But it's really the truth and I'm hoping you can help me out. Please."

Frank just blinked at Ranma for a minute, then he said "Sure I can probably help you out but . . . you keep bruising your girl friend because you get to rough. All you have to do is feel how hard you're holding her, that's not hard is it."

Ranma held out his hands, they were heavily calloused and his fingers curled slightly as he relaxed them.

"I think I must have done something to the nerves or something. I can't really feel that much. If I'm careful and don't get carried away it's ok but if I forget to watch what I'm doing . . . literally watch my hands I mean, I hurt her. I can't feel how hard I'm touching her."

Frank took Ranmas' right hand in his. He pressed on his finger tips and then ran a finger across his palm. Ranma watched him produce a stick pin from his lapel. Frank took the pin and stuck Ranma's hand in various places, asking him if he felt it. Ranma admitted that while he felt the push of the pin it didn't really feel like much of anything.

"Well, Ranma, I'm no doctor but it seems to me that you've done almost exactly what you said you had. You should have felt a stick almost every time it poked you but not a thing. That's bad. You should go to a real doctor. Maybe they can do something for you."

Frank looked at Ranma cautiously. He didn't look pleased at all. In fact he looked downright pissed.

"I've been to doctors about this already. Not about not feeling things but about hurting Akane and none of them even thought to ask about that. I just thought of it myself while you were talking. You've been more help in three minutes than Dr. Tofu and Akanes' shrink have been in three days. What do you think I ought to do now? If I just knew how hard I could touch her I could use your game to train myself not to touch her too hard. See what I mean?'

Ranma pulled his pigtail a sure sign that he was getting upset.

Frank decided that he was going to put his neck on the line for Ranma. He could get in real trouble, diagnosing an illness or physical problem could get him jail time but he didn't think the young man was a cop, he didn't seem the type. So he questioned Ranma closely about everything and then had him go through the game.

Ranma finished the game and Frank and he examined the results, he'd maxed out every one of the levels.

"Geeze, Saotome. I've never seen anyone so strong. You've maxed out every trial in the game. So now we know how strong you are. What next? I know I said I'd help but I can't see how this machine can do that."

Frank really wanted to help Ranma he seemed like such a nice kid, a little cocky but still a nice enough type. How his machine could help was beyond his comprehension.

Ranma considered his answer for a moment and then just put it all on the line. He had to have Frank's cooperation or this wouldn't work. He was going to use up a lot of time and he was going to have to pay for it. Even with his allowance and any money Akane could be persuaded to lend him it still wasn't going to be nearly enough so he needed Frank to run him a tab and let him pay a little at a time or maybe work it off somehow.

"Look I'll be honest with you. If I can just find out how many ppsi it takes to make a bruise, I can train myself not to touch Akane any harder than that. I know exactly how much force I use but the problem is I get excited and forget myself. If I can train with your machine I can train myself not to just grab her. Once my muscles learn something I don't make mistakes. Am I making any sense at all?"

Frank just shook his head. "You're standing there and telling me that in the . . . un . . . you're too young for this."

Ranma clenched his fists so hard his nails cut. "I'm sixteen and I'm not made of stone. I just have more self control than a lot of jerks out there. So people forget . . . Damnit, I'm as horney as anyone, I just don't do anything about it. I'm getting out of control with Akane because all I can think about is how I want to hold her and . . . stuff. Sorry I bothered you."

Ranma turned to leave but felt a hand touch his arm.

"Ok, look. I'm sorry. I guess I'm so old I forgot how it is. We'll figure it out. You're going to need some serious time and it's gonna cost. I can tell by the look on your face you don't have the money. I'll tell you what. I hate cleaning out the machine and sweeping up. So you do that and I'll pay you minimum wage for the time. You can give me what money you can and we'll run a book. How's that?"

At Ranma's agreement Frank took out a small note book and started by writing a contract which stated exactly what Ranma was expected to do and how much he would be payed, also how much he was being charged per hour for using the machine.

Deciding that, as Mohamad Ali in his prime could generate 900 ppsi; Bruce Lee could kick at 2,500 ppsi and Ranma could generate double or even triple that without straining, he needed to train to only approximately 60 to 70 ppsi for a loving touch and not more than 110 ppsi for a hug.

Ranma reached out and stroked the touch pad. The dial registered exactly 60 ppsi, he did it again with exactly the same results. He went to the next part of the machine, putting his arms around a thing that looked somewhat like a heavy bag, he hugged it. Exactly 100 ppsi.

"I don't understand. I'm not having any trouble with this. I get it exactly right every time. What the hell is going on?" Ranma had been working with the machine for less than two hours. Frank checked the results in his main display.

"I don't know exactly what but I have an idea. Think of Akane. Get a little worked up and see what happens." Frank was hoping he was wrong but didn't think so.

Ranma did as he was told and reached out to touch the pad thinking of Akane. 250 ppsi!

"Son of a bitch. What just happened."

"Well, you said it happens when you start getting hot and heavy with her. That's the problem. If you aren't . . . um . . . turned on its fine. But you get turned on and it's all over. That's a real problem. The whole point of sex is to lose control and have fun.You're gonna have to learn to keep enough control not to hurt her but still be able to let yourself get it on. Damn! What a mess."

Frank didn't know how to help Ranma. He couldn't imagine being mentally strong enough to be able to remember to control anything while in the grip of passion.

"Frank that's it. Balance, that's all it is. I have to learn to let go enough to be affectionate but keep enough control to remember not to hold her too hard. Perfect. Now I know what to do, all I have to do is figure out how to do it and that's not a real problem."

Using the biofeedback systems of the machine, Ranma trained, and trained. It took him three weeks of hard work to get where he wanted to be. Every day for two hours he trained, then he spent another three hours working around the arcade cleaning up. Genma didn't interfere. Ranma was training in something and that was all he cared about. Although he didn't let Ranma slack off on his other training. So Ranma had little time for Akane.

"Ranma, please come to the dojo. My therapist says we need to work on your problem. I really want you to just hold me for a while, I miss it. I never thought I would be asking you to touch me but I really want to just sit together and maybe hold hands or something. "Akane didn't believe she was actually asking Ranma to do this. But she really wanted Ranma to let her sit on his lap and maybe hug him.

"Ok, Akane, if you want to. I would like it too." Ranma settled on a cushion cross-legged and set Akane in his lap. She snuggled down and put her arms around his ribs.

"Ooooo. I like this. It's very nice. Ranma could you just try a little. Maybe just hug me a little" Akane wanted more but she'd been told to go slow and not ask Ranma to do more than he was comfortable with. Just like she had.

Ranma hugged Akane gently, after working with the machine he'd knew he could finally touch Akane again.

"Uh? Akane? Loosen up a little I can't breathe"

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Poor Ranma, once he gets himself under control . . . Geeze. What's a guy to do? lol


End file.
